The best place in Ireland to watch next month’s solar eclipse is the Dingle Peninsula, space commentator Leo Enright has revealed. 

A solar eclipse is when the moon moves between the sun and the earth during normal daylight hours, temporarily throwing parts of the world into darkness. 

The last solar eclipse in Ireland was in 1999, more than a quarter of a century ago. 

This year’s eclipse will be a partial eclipse, rather than a total eclipse - which means the sun’s rays will not be totally blocked by the moon. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Enright explained that people in certain parts of the country will get a better view than others. 

“Down in Cork, it's going to be over 96% of the sun will be covered by the moon, basically,” he said. 

“Up in Dublin, it will be about 94%, Belfast and Derry, 93%.” 

Mr Enright continued that while it is “not going to go totally dark”, it will be “very dramatic for one special reason”. 

“That is because it happens late in the evening on the 12th August,” he said. 

“That means the sun will be low down in the sky. 

“So, first of all, if you're living on the East Coast, you need to get to somewhere high up so you can look at the sun setting.

“The ideal place, I believe, to watch this eclipse will be the Dingle Peninsula because you'll be looking straight out at the Atlantic Ocean with the sun setting.

“Photographers will have a field day.”

Safety first

However, Mr Enright noted that people still “need to be careful” when viewing an eclipse as the sun eventually re-emerges. 

“The specs are a good idea, but they're not that straightforward to get,” he said. 

“Actually, my favourite way of looking at an eclipse is a box of cornflakes - it's that simple. 

“If you take a box of cornflakes and punch a small, pin-sized hole in the middle of one side of the box of cornflakes. 

“You can project the image of the sun onto any surface behind you so everybody in the family gets to look at it.”

Main image: The last solar eclipse in Ireland was in 1999, more than a quarter of a century ago. 

Main image: The moon eclipses the sun in the South Pacific in 2009. Picture by: Alamy.com.